ment or operation information through the company (Davis & Lawrence, 1977, p. 3).
In a multidivisional organization structure, as the name implies, discrete departments (e.g., R&D, MIS, Operations), are put under the authority of big groups, known as divisions (Ferrell, Hirt, & Ferrell, 2009). There is a view that these various divisions essentially compete with one another within the firm in order to achieve attention and resources that are dispersed by management (Ollinger, 1994). The fact that various divisions compete with each other implies that upper management receives optimal informational inputs and can make appropriately informed decisions about where best to spend money and/or allocate human resources and/or outsourced resources.
At Spectrum, there was a definite decision made to diversify from a more or less single-product line of business--electronics accessories--into lawn care, pet products, and grooming products. Also important is the fact that the company itself has grown within the context of diversification. It has been argued that under the matrix form of organization, the need to deal with increased organizational complexity is better accounted for than in a traditionally hierarchical form of organization. Greiner (1972) sees the matrix organization and the use of cross- functional teams as one of a series of responses to growing internal complexity associated with increases in the size of organizations. Matrix organization It replaces task coordination through a formal bureaucratic structure with a more flexible system of intraorganizational direct contacts.
Further to that point, three conditions for preferring matrix organization have been identified by Davis and Law
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